Lower Holme Valley Circuit, from Brockholes 30/09/19

12.6 miles, via Smithy Place, Hagg Wood, Oldfield, Upper Oldfield, Wood Nock, 
 Slate Pit Wood, Windy Bank Wood, Meltham Mills, Thick Hollins Dike, Royd Edge Clough, 
  Royd Edge, Catchwater Drain, Brow Grains Dike, Blackmoorfoot Conduit & Reservoir, 
   Edge Moor, South Crosland, Netherton, Magdale, Steps, Honley station, and Hall Ing.

Taking a long week end off at the end of September feels like a punt worth taking to get in some necessary time out of work and to fit in an extra walking day but that plan falls with the changeability that comes with The End of Summer, with Saturday not promising a decent weather projection, and Sunday and Tuesday bringing nought but persistent rain, so only one day out of the four turns out to be usable, which is fine when my limbs and brain need a rest, and a bunch of housework needs attending to. So we travel on Monday, when there are far more people on the early trains and the tickets don't have a cheap return option, riding out to the Holme Valley for the second circuit path of the late season, feeling the disappointment that my scheme to head over the Pennines to the Tame Valley and back is going to have to wait for another year but feeling cheered that we have a good four hour window of sunshine to exploit on this trip, as we seek to take in as much as possible of the landscape of the lower valley in a single excursion, alighting at Brockholes, the prettiest station site on the Penistone line at 9.25am. From our perch on the eastern side of the Holme valley, we have a descent to do immediately, down through the suburbs of Ridings Field to meet Brockholes Lane which wends its way down through the terraces and cottages with fine views, an amount of extreme vintage and one Hillman Minx, to come down above the village green and below the village hall in the old church school, coming down below the cliffs of Tor Rocks, atop which St George's church perches, alighting on the A616 New Mill Road by the Rock Inn. Head north for a few steps up to the Smithy Place bar sign, where the River Holme flows below the bridges in a larger and louder quantity than it did on that hot day in June, and we step over the old humpbacked bridge to pass through the small community of new suburban houses and old cottages that spread uphill from the riverside along the lane that ascends steeply up through Hagg Wood, where the A6024 passes trhough about half way up. Above the woods on the corners of Oldfield Lane we meet a suburban enclave that is unclaimed by any of the settlements around, but is clearly here to absorb the view to the north, past the Gibb cottages to Honley among the declining fields below, to Castle Hill above and to the woods that conceal Huddersfield to the north. Rise with the lane, past the piggery and its neighbouring dream houses, heading over the Holme Valley Circular path and getting little by ways of views to the southern half of the Holme valley as we look back to the high eastern side, following the route of the #308 bus as we rise on to meet the off-road hamlet of Oldfield, still looking like a rural enclave away from the suburban spread in the valley below.

Brockholes station, with 144 Pacer unit, in its last year of service?

Brockholes Village Green.

Smithy Place.

The view over Honley and the Lowest stretch of the Holme valley.

The rise to Oldfield hamlet.

The sunshine makes this a fine lofty road to venture along, among the ribbon of farmsteads that rise up to the cluster at Upper Oldfield, where we touch base with our previous circuit path around the upper Holme, following it over to the Knoll Lane junction by Mountain cottage, having absorbed the north-eastern horizon views before we land on Wood Nock Lane and rise to the crest of the day's early going, where the northern and western horizons take over, revealing the rise above the Colne valley and the saddle of Meltham Moor ahead with the eastwards views receding beyond the remnants of Honey Head Wood. We descend to meet the farm hamlet of Wood Nock, which still retains the footprint that it had a century prior, where we head off road onto the paths to the west, finding some very moist going along the old lane to the now lost Lower Cote farm, a handy reminder of how a lot of rain in the late season has a nasty habit of staying on the ground long after if fell, and that makes for some gingerly taken steps as we head around to the path into Slate Pits wood, where the angled path among the beech trees leads us on. Here's a quiet little idyll that no one knows about, with the path declining down towards the shore of Meltham Mills reservoir, forming a cistern for the complex to the west of here, from which the runoff channel spills out noisily below the dam into Ridge Busk Dike below, which we shadow as we join the firm access lane for the angling club as we pass through Windy Bank wood and emerge onto Knowle Lane by the last (or first?) terrace in Meltham Mills. Retrace steps downhill from last week past the enduring industrial sites to the Acre Lane corner, where we slip into the park that sits along the wooded cleft that contains Thick Hollins Dike, following the path by the angrily charging stream and past the former mill pond as we press south-westerly, spying the Banks Buildings terrace on the far bank before we emerge onto the B6107 Holmfirth Road, which we cross to continue our ascent to the west of Meltham along Royd Lane, where road works have almost completely taken over this minor lane in the shade of the trees. This might seem like an odd route to take as it rises and wends its way above the streams that feed Thick Hollins Dike, but it's a wander worth taking as the hidden valley of Royd Edge clough is revealed, almost forming a deep gorge to the west of the Calmlands terraces on the edge of Meltham, views over which we can absorb as we come around over the Harden Clough intake and past the well sited Fox Royd Green farm, beyond which we rise to a fine view downstream to the east and make the note that the Royd Edge mill site below has been demolished.

Meltham Moor from Wood Nock Lane.

Wood Nock Hamlet.

Slate Pits wood, and Meltham Mills reservoir.

The former Millpond on Thick Hollins Dike.

Royd Edge Clough.

There's no sign of it having been marked for brownfield site redevelopment yet either, so for now Royd Edge clough can remain that bit more secret as we trace Hebble Lane down to Intake farm, where our hard surface disappears and we are forced to take a damp path, or sometimes a waterfall,  down to the passage over the stream that churns away to itself, as we come around behind the former millponds and up the north side of the valley to Royd Edge house, an eastward ascent that's easier than the tightly packed contours suggest it should be. Land on Calmlands Road by Lathe farm, having gotten a fine view on our tour around this corner, hair-pinning back on the road to head west once more, rising past the perimeter of Meltham cemetery and beyond the town, rising above the top of Royd Edge with the hidden valley opening up below us, stretching off to the west and south towards the 400+m moors while remaining invisible from both the high roads beyond, indeed the view off to the deep and wooded Rams Clough might be the best secret view in all of West Yorkshire. Pause for an early lunch break above this fine vista before head  on to meet Bedlam Road, the only track of sorts into the valley, which leads us out of it, cresting away to the spread of the streams above Meltham, which sits off to the east of us as we meet the Catchwater Drain as it passes Upper Colders farm, joining the rough path at its side as we start the circuit around the town as we follow its reed choked course, and having to clamber over the parapets of the occupation bridges along its length as we walk on towards the crossing of Wessenden Head Road by Wentworth house. Carry on, with water pooling in places where springs and small streams feed it, but it's a mostly idle channel to walk along as we pass below the moorland edge of West Nab, sitting around the 260m contour while meandering among the fields below Oldfield Hill farm, giving fine views to the east and up to the autumnal shades of Meltham Moor as we come around to Brow Grains Road, which rises directly up from the town only to stop very suddenly where the access land to the west starts. Beyond there, we have Deer Hill rising to the north of us, and we aim ourselves along the path that comes up to the run off dam that would flow down into Brow Grains Dike if the drain's water level were two feet higher, a structure that we have to walk across to meet the link up with the main stream that drains the moor, where it actually tangles up with the Catchwater Drain and a series of sluices control the flow, sending the water downstream towards the town or off to Blackmoorfoot reservoir.

Looking down the clough to Calmlands.

Royd Edge Clough, the best secret view in the county.

Joining the Catchwater Drain.

The Drain below West Nab.

The tangling of the Drain and Brow Grains Dike.

This watery junction marks the apex of today's trip, where the moorland looms largest to the west and the valley to the east opens up into the lower Holme valley, and we come around to a northeastward track, noting that the drain has a much more pronounced channel as we follow it off the moor, making me wonder if today warrants a canal walking tag, as slipways are regularly dug into it suggesting that it might be accessible enough for canoeing if not bolder types of boating, the first of which we meet by the Red Lane bridleway. Our aim is now taking us on towards the lump of Meltham Cop, which has loomed on the horizon ever since we joined the drain's path, but now becomes our focus as we come away from the moorlands that have entertained us so much in our recent local strolls, as we come up towards the B6107 Slaithwaite Road, passing the merging channel of the Blackmoorfoot Conduit as it comes down from the lower heights of Holme Moor, above Marsden, sneaking in behind the trees without being noticed. With a new name now, the conduit carries on to pass under Blackmoorfoot Road, and passes to the south of Meltham Cop, which seems to vanish as we pass below its grassy side, which sends the attention looking over the valley around Meltham, which really does have hidden valleys and woodlands at almost every corner of it, making you wonder if its relative seclusion mas done it a bit of a cultural disservice, though the local dog exercisers seem to like this stretch, and the seasonal sunshine as more than one of them not to me. Carrying on, we come above a tiny village, just far enough off the path to be passed by, namely Helme, which has the spire of Christ Church rising above it, and its minimal suburban gains, which we can look over to the vast body of Honley Old Wood beyond, which thickly coats most of the southern side of the valley of Meltham Dike, another site that's probably going to be beyond this season's paths, which retreats from view as we come around with the drain past the Slades Lane bridge. The last run of the Conduit thus leads us in by the side of Blackmoorfoot Reservoir's southern dam, containing the cistern above its neighbouring valleys rather than at the base of one, the drain running into the reservoir almost sedately after flowing down from the moors, and we split off across the dam to head east, looking to the high perimeter of the Colne Valley beyond the north dam, from Pole Moor to Scapegoat Hill, and coming up to its eastern side by the syphon runoff and the waterworks house, where we can look back to Meltham Cop as the twin summits of West Nab and Deer Hill frame it.

The Drain slipway at Red Lane.

Melham Moor filling the reverse horizon.

Blackmoorfoot Road bridge, and Meltham Cop.

Helme village, and Honley Old Wood, among the lower Holme.

Blackmoorfoot reservoir, and the high edge of the Colne valley.

Beyond Reservoir End road, we clamber up the rough bank that has the path that leads us onto Edge Moor, giving us a fresh vantage point to look east, and sends us over the rough fields that look like they are part of an abandoned mini golf course, now populated by gorse bushes and grazing horses, but actually transpires to be a patch of genuinely wild land among the other cultivated fields of the area, and from this crest we head downhill, with the eastern side of the Holme valley back on the horizon. Join Whitehead Lane as it traverses its way across the high level fields, the other main geographic feature of the Lower Holme valley, aiming us directly towards Castle Hill as it declines between its dry stone walls, gradually getting damper and turning into a lagoon as a spring or a blocked drain cause water to flow along it and pool at its lowest point ahead of the rise to South Crosland. Here's another modestly sized village that hides well among the surbabanly swollen neighbours all around, still retaining its rural and ancient footprint in its upper portion, and only gaining 20th century additions in it lower half, which we'll meet around Holy Trinity church, and its old school, perched above the valley side, after we've had a break on the first bench that we've seen in an age, before we come down Church Lane past the Memorial gardens and the proudest suburban stretch in the area to the B6108 Huddersfield Road by the Netherton Toll Bar house. Enter the last major village, or townlet, of Kirklees that has so far gone unseen, by passing the Beaumont Arms inn and coming through the main drag of the village along Meltham Road, which is home to the Co-op, pharmacy and post office, but otherwise looks like it could use a bit of love as its village hall is boarded up, and the general wrinkliness of the district comes into play as our route onto Delph Lane rises sharply away from the main road, rapidly elevating us and giving sight from among the stone terraces and cottages to the wooded cleft of Dean Clough off to the north. There's also a railway tunnel under the village somewhere, but we'll have to seek that another time, as we head on with the sunshine of the day now gone behind the clouds, heading onto the late stretch of the day as we pass the village infant school and on among the various styles of 20th century suburbia as we head past Moor Lane and down Netherton Moor Road, out of town to meet a parking situation outside Hinchcliffe's farm shop and restaurant, where extensive rebuilding work and the closure of the car park hasn't deterred people from going out to take a Monday lunch at the Rusty Bull.

Edge Moor.

Flooding on Whitehead Lane.

Holy Trinity, South Crosland.

Netherton's High Street.

The Moor Lane farm terrace, and Castle Hill, Netherton.

Landing among the smart houses above Magdale, we are in familiar territory once again, passing inside the loop of the Holme Valley Circular path as Sandbeds lane leads us through the shade to the top of the Magdale quiet lane, which will lead us downhill along the southernmost edge of Mag Wood and along the twisting lane among the stray cottages of Steps to meet the crossing of the River Holme, which is still impressively busy, via Steps Bridge, just upstream from Queen's Square mills, where we meet the A616 again. Cross by the Texaco garage, where the smell of raw petrol is thick in the air, to step up the far side of the valley on the rising and concealed Hanging Stone Lane, which we split off to find the footpath tunnel that burrows deep below the railway embankment, which we don't enter and instead take the many steps up its side to gain track level and then follow the railside path as it traces the driveway to Timinets house, crosses the rising Northgate, and comes around the bus graveyard around the old Honley good shed. This lands us by the station, and the emergency train escape route that we won't be needing today, and stick with the footpath as it passes under the railway and old coal drops beyond, entering the suburban edge of town that has grown up the eastern side of the valley on the site of the Honley dye works, and continues to encroach uphill, past the Wood Royd chapel and up to both Derwent House and Westwood End on the rising Hall Ing Road. There are open fields on the valley side before we get to the road's eponymous hamlet, clustered tightly on the declining side of the lane, where we split onto a field walk that's as sticky as any that we've seen today, that leads to the view over the lower Holme terrain that we've been walking today, an in turn takes us around the freshly cut hedge of the path around the Cliff Top equestrian farm, where the path declines steeply, but not until we've had that sole view of the upper Holme horizon that we might have imagined would have remained hidden all day beyond the wrinkled hills at the heart of the valley. Downhill with the path into the woods above the railway, and then cross the cutting via the steel footbridge that doesn't really feel all that substantial, and graze the edge of Cliff Wood before the path takes us back onto the suburban end of Ridings Fields, which stretch for much further than you'd expect above Brockholes and its parish church, but nonetheless leads us to the end of the circuit as we land back at Brockholes station at 2.30pm, just inside the time window allocated for it, and glad to be done so relatively soon as the early day warmth is a distant memory by now, and I'm eager to get home as all the remaining hours of my four day weekend need to be filled with as much rest and relaxation as is humanly possible.

Magdale Quiet Lane.

The River Holme and Queen's Square Mills at Steps Bridge.

Honley Goods Shed.

The Suburban swell up Hall Ings Lane.

The Lower Holme from Cliff Top.

Landing on the Railway above Brockholes station.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 4196.4 miles
2019 Total: 546 miles
Up Country Total: 3733.4 miles
Solo Total: 3882.2 miles
Miles in My 40s: 2790.2 miles

Next Up: The Late Season begins by bringing up the last Long Trails for the Year.